Lieutenant Donald Stuart Calthorpe Macaskie (1896 – 1987)

Donald (‘Don’) Macaskie, from Laleham, Middlesex, joined the Royal Naval Air Service at the outbreak of war and continued his training at Windermere from January 1915. His logbook shows that he flew Waterhen, Seabird, the Lakes Monoplane and a Blériot. He obtained his Aviator’s Certificate there on 24 September. One of his instructors was John Lankester Parker: this photograph shows them both in Waterhen.

Macaskie was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Flying Corps (‘RFC’) from 2 October 1915 and posted to France with 23 Squadron. However, a ‘Fight with Focker’ caused a forced landing near Albert at the Somme on 20 July 1916 when he lost his right leg. He became a prisoner of war and was repatriated by the Red Cross, when he was able to complete his logbook entry.

He was commissioned in the Royal Air Force as a Lieutenant from 1 April 1918.

– Donald Macaskie was an apprentice at Brooklands, served in the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps, flew hydro-aeroplanes at Calshot then Windermere where he ‘took the first half of his ticket in good style’, his photo appeared in Flight magazine and he was awarded an Aviator’s Certificate restricted to flying hydro-aeroplanes, posted to Brooklands, he obtained an unrestricted Aviator’s Certificate at RFC Dover on 25 February 1916, flew 17 types of aeroplane, and was forced to carry out a landing in a fighter at the Somme causing the loss of a leg: all by 20 years and 4 months.